


face down

by matchablossoms



Category: SK8 the Infinity (Anime)
Genre: Angst, Coda, Domestic Violence, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pining, Unhealthy Relationships, past adam/cherry - Freeform, relationship study kinda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 23:35:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29892279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/matchablossoms/pseuds/matchablossoms
Summary: He stared at the scene unflinchingly. The deep rooted anger that pulsated through him was too familiar, the crunch of Kaoru’s bones snapping at the hand of Adam was too familiar. He remained frozen in place as Adam boasted with an aura of cockiness, his words never made it to his ears. His focus was compelled to Kaoru’s body. Flat, almost lifeless except the faint and strained movement of his head. He felt bile force itself into his throat, the burning sensation snapping him into action. He knew he needed to get to him soon.This was not the first time Adam hurt Kaoru, but it would be the last.
Relationships: Nanjo Kojiro | Joe/Sakurayashiki Kaoru | Cherry Blossom, Sakurayashiki Kaoru | Cherry Blossom/Shindo Ainosuke | Adam
Comments: 16
Kudos: 337





	face down

**Author's Note:**

> hey i havent written in years but needed to get this out! im very tired so sorry for any mistakes! <3 there is mentions of abuse in this so please read that warning!

The sickening crack that echoed through the speakers forced gasps from the audience. Most flinched away from the violence, some girls clang to each other and whimpered as it happened. Kojiro could sense Shadow and Miya doing the same, he felt a pang of sadness in his chest at the thought of little Miya having to see that.

He stared at the scene unflinchingly. The deep rooted anger that pulsated through him was too familiar, the crunch of Kaoru’s bones snapping at the hand of Adam was too familiar. He remained frozen in place as Adam boasted with an aura of cockiness, his words never made it to his ears. His focus was compelled to Kaoru’s body. Flat, almost lifeless except the faint and strained movement of his head. He felt bile force itself into his throat, the burning sensation snapping him into action. He knew he needed to get to him soon.

This was not the first time Adam hurt Kaoru, but it would be the last.

* * *

As students, Kojiro watched as his best friend got woven into the web of Adam, how the man’s poison seeped into Kaoru’s veins and blossomed an addiction.

It started out normal, as normal as three delinquent skateboarders could be, it was fun and exciting, Kojiro himself felt that rush, that _need_ for the thrill. They were an inseparable trio, Kojiro can think fondly of some of those memories, small moments of pure joy and sterile youth, but those memories quickly slip from his grasp. They are muddled by the stain of what Adam would become, what he would come to do.

He was not a man in denial. He understood his feelings for his friend long ago, the heat is his cheeks, the butterflies in his stomach, the way his eyes would follow Kaoru’s pouty lips as he spoke, most of all, brick on his chest when he noticed how Kaoru looked at Adam with the same adoration.

He remembers how the bricks were stacked up and laid as Adam reciprocated. The weight of his heart in his throat as he smiled for his friends, when Kaoru toyed with his lip ring, grabbed Adam’s hand in his own as he forced out ‘We’re dating now, that’s what we wanted to tell you’.

At the time he thought he could see a gleam in Adam’s eye, a ruby red mimic of the devil, a flickering second of pride, a matching smirk of victory. As if he _knew_.

Kaoru would then squeeze his shoulder with a smile full of reassurance. “Don’t worry, things won’t change. It’ll still be us three against the world”.

He almost believed him too. With that smile and those honey gold eyes he could convince Kojiro the sky was green and grass was blue.

But things changed. Kojiro would let blood fill his mouth as he bit his tongue, choking on the pride he’d swallow as he watched Adam’s hands wander, when he’d come to the skatepark to see the two intertwined, when they would practice together. _Alone._

The unspoken divide ripped his heart apart, his best friend never felt so out of reach, he could just barely touch a tendril of his cherry blossom hair before the boy was ripped from his hands. He couldn’t keep up, forcing his feet to run towards the fading image of Kaoru and Adam, lost in a haze of smoke, how three became one.

How one forced himself to move on, accepting dates from girls around school. He’d relish under their attention, he felt good, he felt wanted, he felt empty. But it was better than being alone. He poured his time into dates with girls and cancelled meet ups with the boys. They never asked him why.

What loosened his tongue was a moment he stole Kaoru away, begging the other to hang out him alone, “Like when we were kids.”, he said.

When the boy arrived, his pink hair perfectly placed over his eye. Nothing out of the ordinary, his fashioned mullet always did that. He smelled like cigarette smoke. He wasn’t greeted with a smile this time.

In all the years he knew Kaoru, he never saw him cry, a sound he never wanted to hear, a sound he’d become familiar with. Every tear that fell from those blazing eyes cooled to ice that froze Kojiro in place. The words he spoke next would haunt the green haired boy forever.

“Help me.”

What happened after was a haze, he remembers holding Kaoru in his arms, wiping away those tears, the wince as the pad of his thumb swiped the surface of the bruise under the other’s eye. The fury coursing through his veins deep into his bones as Kaoru hiccuped out an explanation.

_Adam went too far, he began to chase danger and feed off of fear. He would force his boyfriend to race him and to try increasingly dangerous stunts._

_He didn’t care about the fear in Kaoru’s eyes, the bruises decorating his body and the blood on his shirt. He thought Kaoru’s blood was_ so sweet _._

_Eventually, the pink haired boy resisted, he argued that skating is supposed to be fun, and his famous temper would flare up. He quickly learned that a backhand across the face cut deeper than any muscle tear from a bad fall._

Kojiro stood by his best friend’s side when he broke up with Adam, his face fixed with a glare. He wanted nothing more than the tear him apart, to break his eye socket, a grotesque parallel to Kaoru’s own.

But the other made him promise, beneath the surface, his love for Adam still bloomed like bruises themselves, but his rational mind knew he had to get away. This wasn’t the Adam he fell in love with. And Kojiro could never say no to those eyes.

The three who became one became two.

* * *

Kojiro could hear the blood pump through his ears as he ran, the patter of Miya’s foot steps echoed behind him. He wish he could will his voice to scream at Shadow to take the kid home.

He saw the adoration in Miya’s eyes, his devoted faith in Kaoru, in any other scenario he would think it adorable, but not now. He doesn’t think he can bare to see his small frame crouched over an unconscious “Big Brother Cherry”.

He doesn’t think he can bare to see any of it all. Seeing cuts and bruises on Kaoru was not new, seeing them from Adam’s hand was not new either, but it didn’t stop the cocktail of fear, rage and agony that pulled at every corner of his brain.

He saw a large crowd formed around the pink haired man’s body. His own voice was foreign to his ears as he shouted,

“KAORU! Everyone get out of the way!” Kojiro pushed through the people as they scurried to move from his path.

His legs gave up, no longer able to bear the fear consuming him. A flash of pain shot up his knees as he crashed to his best friend’s side. He wanted nothing more than to cradle his face, pull his love into his arms and never let him go.

But he didn’t know how bad it was. _Oh god._ How bad is it. His delicate face littered with scars, a gnarly bruise forming on his cheek. He instinctively pressed his fingers to the pulse point in Kaoru’s wrist, the slow and steady rhythm soothed away some of the panic.

“Joe, can we call an ambulance.” Miya’s sniffles startled him out of his focus. The kid looked so small sitting next to him, so _scared._ Scared for Kaoru, but underneath it that he was scared for himself. Kojiro made a note to speak with him later, he was not comfortable at all with Adam being near the kid.

Before he could answer, a deafening screech of tires alerted the presence of Shadow’s car.

“Get in!” The man bellowed. With contrast of care and haste, Kojiro lifted Kaoru into his arms, careful to not jostle any injuries. He could see a flurry of green rush to the passengers side.

Manoeuvring Kaoru into the car was no easy feat, but as soon as he succeeded the car flew off to the same hospital they took Reki to recently. They didn’t ask many questions. Kojiro looked down at man’s head in his lap, mouth slightly ajar, his fingers softly traced the curve of his cheek.

“K-Kojiro….hurts” His heart stuttered at the small whisper from the other. Kojiro ran strands of the cherry blossom hair through his fingers while he mustered up an encouraging smile.

“It’s okay dummy, I’ve got you now. And I’m not letting go.”

* * *

The steadily beep of the heart monitor filled the silence in the room. Kojiro sat on the side of Kaoru, he forced Miya home a few hours ago and had a feeling he was going to get the same boot soon. A voice startled him out of his thoughts.

“I was so stupid. For someone so smart I’m so stupid. The man I loved has been gone for so long now, but I had hope. I wanted him back so bad, I thought maybe….” Kaoru trailed off, eyes falling to his pathetic cast.

Kojiro took the other’s good hand into his own, pulling it to his lips with a chaste kiss.

“He did a lot of bad things to you Cherry, unforgivable things. It’ll take time but you will heal from this, and you won’t do it alone.” A small blush dusted Kaoru’s cheeks, a pretty pink that matched his hair.

He wanted nothing more than to kiss those smiling lips. But he would wait, wait until every piece of glass Adam shattered was put back together, wait until Kaoru was ready.

“Thank you, for always being there. You know it's so ridiculous when you think about it, I spent so long chasing after a ghost while you were always _here_.” He laughed mirthlessly.

Kojiro felt his breath hitch, he could feel the bricks solidly built on his chest crumble to dust with one sentence.

“Kaoru, Wha-” Kaoru’s honey gold eye’s lit up, the hand in his own was suddenly squeezed with a desperate force.

“Wait for me please, once this is over, let’s go on a date.” Kaoru said all at once, practically pleading, his tone suddenly switched to a playful lilt “I’d like to eat somewhere other than your place for once.”

“What? You don’t like my food four eyes?” Kaoru let out a laugh, a real one, he knew Kojiro’s answer. They would be okay.

They wouldn’t let each other be alone ever again.


End file.
